The unseasonably warm weather this Spring Weekend lent itself to huge gatherings at Celeron Square Apartments and X Lot Friday and Saturday nights, drawing crowds as big as 10,000 and 15,000 people, respectively, according to UConn Police.
X Lot drew about 3,000 more people than last year, according to police estimates.
The weather also seemed to incite rowdiness amongst partygoers, as UConn police made a total of 90 arrests over the course of the three nights. Most of the arrests - 72, about 80 percent - were not UConn students.
In addition to the 90 arrests by UConn police, the state police arrested 21 people. The number of these that were UConn students was not disclosed.
This year's arrests amount to more than double those of last year. The Daily Campus reported 51 arrests occurred between Thursday and Saturday of last Spring Weekend. Only 19 were UConn students.
The charges included criminal trespasses, narcotics offenses (for cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana), weapons offenses, interfering with a police officer, breach of peace, inciting to riot and reckless endangerment.
The majority of Thursday night's arrests were either possession of less than four ounces of marijuana, breach of peace or interfering with an officer. Only one of the 13 arrests that occurred that night happened at Carriage House Apartments, the site of Thursday night's party.
UConn police issued 27 infractions for alcohol offenses, simple trespass and creating a public disturbance on Friday and Saturday nights. Again, police noted that the majority of these infractions - 74 percent, or 20 of the 27 people - were not UConn students.
The police maintained a vigilant stance all weekend, which some students thought was overbearing.
"I felt like the cops were out there just to arrest people. I felt that they were being unfair," said Jaime Gullotti, a 6th-semester marketing major who knew one of the students who was arrested.
UConn police broke up the parties at 12:30 a.m. each night.
Some students noticed that a substance, which they thought might have been tear gas, was released into the air while students were being cleared out of X Lot on Saturday night. UConn police could not be reached for comment.
"I don't know anything for sure, but it was all anyone was talking about when they were clearing X Lot," said Alex Martin, a 6th-semester journalism and political science double major. "People were coughing and puking. My friend got a bloody nose."
Julie Ferri, a 6th-semester international business management major, also felt the effects.
"As far as I could tell there was nothing going on around us, like no fighting or bottle-throwing, and a line of cops walked by and a few seconds later everyone around us was coughing, sneezing, and had runny eyes and noses," Ferri said. "Everyone in our area was just standing around doing nothing wrong and the police didn't say anything or tell anyone to leave or give us any warning."
Emergency personnel were available to care for any possible Spring Weekend injuries. Despite USG's best attempts at curtailing broken glass with free mugs in X Lot, some revelers still needed treatment for cuts.
"I was stationed at the emergency department at Windham Hospital on Saturday night. Most of the students we saw were not from UConn; about half [of the emergencies] were alcohol related, and the other half were cuts from broken glass," said Kami Escajeda, a 6th-semester nursing major.
Escajeda and other nursing students were required to partake in the "Alcohol Safety Team" for their public health class. Each student in the class was stationed either at a residence hall or the emergency department for one night of the weekend, she said.
Students felt that the weather, which reached the high 80s, contributed to the larger crowds at parties.
"It seemed a lot crazier than last year. I feel like there were more people out enjoying themselves for longer, especially with the gorgeous weather," said Nick Gwiazda, a 6th-semester finance major.
And, as usual, the festivities were viewed as a great "last hurrah" before finals.
"Last year was freezing, so it seemed like a lot more people came out," Gwiazda said. "Everybody being out in the sun, and the fact that Oozapalooza was yesterday put everybody in a great mood [for X Lot]."
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